Recently, an alkali development method which uses an aqueous alkali developer have been employed in place of a conventional development method in which a developer which mainly comprising an organic solvent is used in a step of forming printing plates or resists due to concerns associated with safety and sanitation. Therefore, a photosensitive layer suitable for the alkali development is necessitated and various polymers or resins containing a carboxyl group are used as binders. However, an image area remaining after the exposure and development is swollen with the alkaline developer due to the carboxylic acid contained therein. Therefore, when such materials are used for the printing plate or resist, the coating strength and the adhesion of the layer to a support are insufficient. This is an essential problem of the alkali development.